Ex-Manager watch: Antonio Conte

[Albertbarich]

I don't think his comments mean he is gone, more that his future isn't just about football so this past year has made him revaluate his priorities in life

 

[jimbo]

You can believe what you like, even if JM was Head Coach rather than Manager.

Okay, thanks.

 

[bat-chain]

People are over reacting maybe he'll just have his family here with him. If Levy gets him Porro and Zaniolo with Udogie to come next season, we'll be different. He doesn’t sound like he wants to give up to me.

He wants the chance to put his system in place.

 

[Harrier]

I think he will return to Italy. The personal trauma of losing three close friends has clearly caused him to rethink his priorities, alongside him missing his wife and daughter, leads me to think that regardless of Levy backing him or not he will leave Spurs.

Who can blame him.

Losing my father made me seriously reflect on my life and career.

If I was Conte I’m buggered I’d want to be away from my family for long lengths of time either.

 

[Gilzeanking]

This almost feels like a convenient and amicable context for a mutuality agreed parting in the summer.

Yes, but is this the best thing for Spurs ? We are in the middle of a vital transfer window , all these concerns about Conte's mentality are valid, but should not be allowed to majorly affect the club.

If Conte has told the club he is going in the summer this has a potentially serious negative effect on the team when they are told. Far better to make a mutually acceptable financial agreement with Conte and get Tuchel . I say him in a desperate bid to avoid the sentimental outcome with Poch (which I see has a big majority in favour from SC poll and will have encouraged the club pursue it)

 

[spursgirls]

This basically confirms what I said the other day. Losing 3 people you are close to is incredibly hard and must make you think that there's more to life than football, especially when you work hard and don't get the results you want. Being away from family is tough too and in difficult times we all need our family there.

 

[bubble07]

Well the only way out of this is to buy players that any manger would want

 

[Trix]

Pep lost his Mum last season.

What's your point? And I'm really interested to hear this......

 

[spursgirls]

Pep lost his Mum last season.

Which must have been incredibly difficult for him to deal with. I don't know enough about his family life to know how much support he had from them. Everyone copes, or not, in different ways. You can't compare the two situations IMHO. Both are very difficult to cope with.

 

[spursfan77]

Then the media should not be allowed to ask questions about it.

The new press officer we got from Bournemouth seems pretty useless. I haven’t heard him step in once in press conferences.

 

[spursfan77]

This basically confirms what I said the other day. Losing 3 people you are close to is incredibly hard and must make you think that there's more to life than football, especially when you work hard and don't get the results you want. Being away from family is tough too and in difficult times we all need our family there.

He seems like the kind of guy to throw himself into his work to get away from the pressures of it. That can be both a good and a bad way to deal with it as his emotions will come out sooner or later.

 

[Gb160]

The new press officer we got from Bournemouth seems pretty useless. I haven’t heard him step in once in press conferences.

Did he have 6 months left on his contract when we nicked him?

 

[carlosspurs]

Watched the Conte embargo section and my take away is that he does not believe he can achieve what he wants at the club. His avoidance of the Kane question, although understandable, looks like he knows he has nothing to say to contradict a narrative of "he should go if he wants to win things". This maybe a jump, but he could quite easily throw comments to suggest otherwise but he has said that "he wouldn't tell good lies". I think it's over, it's just a matter of time.

This to me is unforgivable by the club, we are going lose the best manager we have had in a long time. And I am a big Poch fanboy..

 

[cjbyid]

Conte unimpressed with Kane question and asked if he'd consider back four switch

The Tottenham Hotspur boss was asked about his tactics and whether he might ever deviate from the back three he uses at the club

www.football.london

More quotes for anyone interested.

 

[Scott Spur]

"To play four at the back, you need to have defenders with specific characteristics".

There's so many places I could go with this, but best not.

 

[AtoubaToothpaste]

Conte unimpressed with Kane question and asked if he'd consider back four switch

The Tottenham Hotspur boss was asked about his tactics and whether he might ever deviate from the back three he uses at the club

www.football.london

More quotes for anyone interested.

Interesting quotes there, and quite candid. I think we all know he's basically saying our CBs are shit and he can't trust only playing 2 of them. It is odd, however, that he still refers to Perisic as a winger when he's obviously been playing as a wing-back for the last few years, and doing a decent job of it. That said, although I do have some trust in Conte, (admittedly, that has eroded a little this season) I don't think it would hurt him to be more flexible. He's essentially saying here that we don't start with our best players because he prefers his particular system, which slightly contradicts his quote about picking players for their characteristics. Surely, a system that gets our best players on the pitch would be better than sub-par players in a rigid system? But he obviously knows more than me.

I don't like his 'if we lose, then I'm right,' quote, though. We've lost plenty using his system, so does the same apply, and that makes us right? Either way, I just wish something in the club would click, and we knew for certain if he's staying or going. This limbo situation isn't helping him or the club/players/fans.

 

[bubble07]

In this squad, I have to create a situation to support Sonny, Kane and Kulusevski or Richarlison.

This is a concerning quote as he just can't seem to get it out of his head that son needs dropping

 

[bubble07]

Yea he is implying the centre backs are not good enough in a 2 so why not have an extra midfielder to stop teams running at them?

Then they won't get so regularly exposed

 

[Neon_Knight_]

For those of you who aren't sure whether a CB would make a big difference to the side, look at how solid we became once we signed Alderweireld to slot in alongside Vertonghen.

We went from the 5th most goals conceded the year before in 14/15 with Vertonghen, Dier (Sigh), Fazio, Chiriches, Kaboul and Wimmer to one of the most solid defences in europe. It obviously wasn't solely down to that but lets not underestimate how much of a difference top quality CBs make! Even with one quality CB in Vertonghen, he needed a capable partner to truly solidify the defence. It helped that Toby had an immense passing range as well.

Agreed.

Wimmer was actually signed the same summer as Alderweireld though, as back-up for Vertonghen at LCB. Despite being a fringe player, he made a key contribution (performing far better than any of our other back-up CBs could have) when Vertonghen was out injured for 4 months. Just goes to show that the squad is important - not just the best XI.
I find it really frustrating that we've significantly increased our strength in depth in the attacking positions, yet a succession of injuries in this area had left us toothless at times this season.

EDIT:
We probably shouldn't underestimate how much easier it is for a CB (and therefore how much better they look) to play alongside someone with the quality of Alderweireld. VVD has had a similar impact on other defenders at Liverpool (and has helped to mask the defensive weakness at RB).
Dawson (and even Gardner!) looked so much better alongside King than without him. Gallas' class and experience was pivotal to our form when King couldn't play twice per week.
As highly as I rate Romero, he doesn't bring the calmness and organisation that our defence is missing, so I think this needs to be an attribute that we focus on for our next CB signing. Plenty of the CBs we've been linked with in the past 6-12 months probably wouldn't bring this to the table. I think all of Dier / Davies / Lenglet would look good enough if playing alongside Romero + the right signing, so we just need to upgrade on one of the three.

 

[Griff001]

In this squad, I have to create a situation to support Sonny, Kane and Kulusevski or Richarlison.

This is a concerning quote as he just can't seem to get it out of his head that son needs dropping

Agreed. On this seasons form, it should be Kane, Deki and Son or Richarlison.